Uranometria
Title
Uranometria
Alternative Title
Omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, aereis laminis expressa; Containing diagrams of all the asterisms [constellations?], identified by a new method, engraved on copper plates
Description
Uranometria contains 52 plates engraved by Alexander Mair, measuring 2’ in length (parallel to the spine) and 1’ in width. The first plate is the title page, featuring an architectural motif with the full title and publication date in the center, surrounded by mythic and divine figures from Greek legend. The next 48 plates each depict a single constellation, all of which were originally described by the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy in his 2nd-century treatise, the Almagest. Bayer outlines each constellation with an artistic rendition of its namesake. In some instances, Bayer breaks from the traditional mode of representation, depicting figures like Hercules facing away from the viewer rather than towards them.
Uranometria’s more than 1200 stars (expanded from a stellar catalogue of 1005 stars compiled by Tycho Brahe in 1598) are labeled with a Greek or Latin character in order of descending brightness. Each star can therefore be identified by its constellation and letter--Alpha Draco, Epsilon Orion, and so on. This novel system is still in use today, and represents a clean break from the Ptolemaic system in which stars were identified by lines of prose. The constellations are placed on a grid that allows any given star to be located in the night sky to within a fraction of a degree.
Plate 49 shows 12 southern constellations only recently described by Europeans at the time of publication in 1603. Plates 50 and 51 are planispheres for the northern and southern skies respectively, used to show what stars are visible in the sky for any given time and date. Though the first edition included a table of stars on the verso of each plate, in later editions they were published separately as the Explicatio characterum aeneis Uranometrias and are not included in this particular text. (Scott Shafer ‘22)
Uranometria’s more than 1200 stars (expanded from a stellar catalogue of 1005 stars compiled by Tycho Brahe in 1598) are labeled with a Greek or Latin character in order of descending brightness. Each star can therefore be identified by its constellation and letter--Alpha Draco, Epsilon Orion, and so on. This novel system is still in use today, and represents a clean break from the Ptolemaic system in which stars were identified by lines of prose. The constellations are placed on a grid that allows any given star to be located in the night sky to within a fraction of a degree.
Plate 49 shows 12 southern constellations only recently described by Europeans at the time of publication in 1603. Plates 50 and 51 are planispheres for the northern and southern skies respectively, used to show what stars are visible in the sky for any given time and date. Though the first edition included a table of stars on the verso of each plate, in later editions they were published separately as the Explicatio characterum aeneis Uranometrias and are not included in this particular text. (Scott Shafer ‘22)
Creator
Johann Bayer
Source
Ulmae: Sumptibus Johannis Goerlini. Uranometria: omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, aereis laminis expressa, 1639
Format
Atlas
Date
1639
Medium
Copper plate engravings
Contributor
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Relation
Carleton College Special Collection's first edition (1603) Uranometria: https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=01BRC_INST:CCO&search_scope=BOOKS&tab=BOOKS&docid=alma991005304779702971
Language
Latin
Type
Celestial atlas
References
Herlihy, Anna F. “Bayer’s Uranometria: A Model for the Future.” In The History of Cartography vol. 3 part 1, Cartography in the European Renaissance 115-118, ed. David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007
Kana, Nick “Alessandro Piccolomini and the First Printed Star Atlas (1540),” Imago Mundi, 58:1, 70-76, DOI: 10.1080/03085690500362355
Kana, Nick “Alessandro Piccolomini and the First Printed Star Atlas (1540),” Imago Mundi, 58:1, 70-76, DOI: 10.1080/03085690500362355
Rights
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Citation
Johann Bayer, “Uranometria,” Mapping the World, accessed April 24, 2026, https://hist231.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/29.